Nishad Alani joins Affinity Education as new Chief Operating Officer

Affinity Education Group has confirmed that Nishad Alani has been appointed the Group’s new Chief Operating Officer, replacing Andre Reich who served in the position up to March 2024. 

“It’s vital for our executive leadership team to align with our values and our vision for early education, and I’m confident Nishad’s positive leadership approach and skills in identifying and driving clear goals will support our growth in 2024 and beyond,” Tim Hickey, Affinity Chief Executive Officer said. 

Mr Hickey said Mr Alani’s strengths in building customer-centric companies and his ‘high energy’ approach to achieving business objectives was a key factor in the decision to welcome him to the company. 

“With Nishad on the team we will continue to focus on quality, safety and building the capacity of our people to manage and deliver the best early education Australian children can enjoy in their first five years,” Mr Hickey said.  

Mr Alani joins Affinity after an extensive career, having held leadership roles across multiple high profile and well regarded Australian and Global companies including Retail Zoo (the holding company of Boost Juice bars), Betty’s Burgers, Salsas, and Cibo Espresso, as well as Skylark holdings, (a global dining chain) and Starbucks where he spent nine years as COO.

“The opportunity to be part of Australia’s early education sector does not come up often, and once I understood the model of early education that Affinity is providing to Australian families through the Lifelong Learning Curriculum, and the career training and development opportunities they offer their people, I knew it was the right step for me,” Mr Alani said.  

The move to the early education sector will be, Mr Alani added, “one of the most interesting of his career.”

Mr Alani commenced his duties on 3 June 2024.